As the Pain Will Resurface
by Akuma-Chibi
Summary: It began when he left,they noticed me.I took comfort in their words,their support.It seemed that that was all I had.They helped me in more ways than anyone could ever imagine.Till my last breath,in the end,I could only leave a little piece of me behind..
1. Tears & Pain

**As the Pain Will Resurface**

_Again_

_and_

_Again_

_I Will Return _

_Again_

_and_

_Again_

_Save Me_

**-x-x-x-**

Summary: It began when he left...they noticed me...I took comfort in their words, their support, their...humor. It seemed that that was all I had. Naruto had gone in search of him...Kakashi was with me, but rarely. I was still the student of the Great Slug Sanin Tsunade, but...they helped me in more ways than anyone else could ever imagine. Till my last breath...in the end...I could only leave a little piece of me behind...I hope that's enough.

Anime: Naruto

Pairing: Kotetsu/Sakura/Izumo

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Rated: M

_**-x-x-x-**_

_**Tears**_

_**-x-x-x-**_

The soft padding of footsteps kept her from moving...

The silence that followed when they stopped confirmed her fears...

His words made her tremble...

"It's the middle of the night. What are you hanging around here for?"

She let her head fall, "This is the only road...out of the village."

"You should go to bed."

She listened to each fall of his feet as he bypassed her with little remorse...if any. Tears slowly began there decent down her cheeks, "Why Sasuke, why won't you ever tell me anything?" He kept walking, her tears kept falling, "Why is it always silence with you? You've never shared a single thing with ─"

"Why should I have to tell you anything?" He stopped walking, his words cold. "Just keep your nose out of my business; it's none of your concern."

She stared a moment, then again, her head fell as she stared at the ground. Nights embrace did little to comfort her. "I know you hate me, even in the beginning you could never stand me." She looked up at him once more, "Remember? Back when we made Genin and we were assigned to our three man squads?" She gave a sad smile, knowing fully that these would be her parting words. "We were alone together, for the first time, right here at this very spot. You got so mad at me that day." She thought back to the painful memory, and even now, she wanted to cry at what she'd said about her friend and teammate.

He remained still for a moment, not speaking, and then he allowed a few words, "I don't remember that."

A tear hit the ground as she gave a pitiful laugh, trying to cover the hurt. "Yeah, sure. I mean, it was so long ago, right? But still, that's the day when it all began; it was the start of you and me...and Naruto, and Kakashi-Sensei..." Flashbacks of their time together formed in her mind, "The four of us started going on missions...it was rough back then...everyday was such a challenge. But, more than anything...it was so much fun. I know about your clan Sasuke...I do…but seeking revenge...that wont bring anybody happiness...nobody at all. Not you...and not me..."

"I knew it..."

"Huh?"

"I'm not the same as you are. I'm traveling a path the rest of you can't follow. I know that the four of us have worked together...and for a while I thought that I could take that road instead...but in the end...I've decided on revenge. That's always been my reason for living. I'll never be like you and Naruto."

Her heart contracted in pain and fear. "Don't do this Sasuke; you don't have to be alone! You told me that day how painful a thing solitude can be, I understand that pain now. I have family...and friends...but..." She took careful steps towards him, his back facing her, but he could hear her approach. "…if you were gone Sasuke, it would be the same thing to me...as being all alone." Her tears fell with reserves.

"This is a new beginning...each of us have a new path lying before us."

"Sasuke! I'm so in love with you I can't even stand it! If you would only be with me! I promise, I'd never let you regret it! Everyday will be a joy, I can give you happiness! I'll do anything for you Sasuke, so please, I'm begging you, don't walk away! I'll even help get your revenge! I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen, I swear! Stay here with me...and if you can't...then take me with you Sasuke."

He listened to her as she cried and smirked; tilting his head back he caught her attention. "You haven't changed, you're still annoying." He started walking away again.

"Don't leave me! If you go, I'll scream an─"

He disappeared before reappearing behind her, "Sakura...thank you for everything."

She knew what would happen next, her heart pounded in expectancy, at the same time, her mind shouted for her to move, side step, avoid...she couldn't. The sudden pain at the back of her neck, her world falling to shadows, crumbling around her...she could only get out one word...one name... _"Sasuke~"_

_**That had been the end of Sasuke...I had known that from the moment darkness had taken me.**_

_**I understood now...that no matter how much you love someone...if they didn't care about you, it didn't matter what you were willing to give up.**_

_**I would have given him everything had he let me...I know now just how foolish I was.**_

_**My world was breaking, falling apart...and all I could do was watch it shatter around me.**_

_**Was this something I could control? No...I don't believe so. I think things happened the way they did because that was how things were meant to be. I'm happy with the conclusion...even though my life is taken before the finale...I am pleased with the way...my story ends.**_

_**I hope...that even though we all went separate ways...we will one day meet again. Different time, a different place...who knows…maybe we will have different roles too.**_

_**For now…let me tell you my story; the second phase, after Sasuke's decision to leave...began when I woke the next morning.**_

_**-x-x-x-**_

_**Pain**_

_**-x-x-x-**_

Sakura could hear the gentle footsteps of nearby villagers, a whisper in her ear, _'Thank you...'_

"Ah, Sasuke No!" She shot forward, and stared ahead...not aware of the curious eyes beside her.

"Hey, kid..."

Sakura turned slowly to her left, her eyes filled with tears as the two she only recognized as examiners, their names, Izumo and Kotetsu if she remembered correctly, sat two large stacks of books down and got on one knee before her.

"What happened?"

She couldn't speak, her heart hurt too much. She brought her hand up to it and breathed deeply a few times, "S-Sasuke...is gone."

She watched one take on a surprised look while the other gave one of concentration and thought.

"What happened?" The question was repeated.

"He left...to gain power...he left for revenge...and, he doesn't care about whom gets hurt in the process...that he leaves behind. He has...abandoned...Konoha."

Kotetsu took her hand in his with a frown. "You're cold; go home and rest. We will report to the Hokage."

She nodded and lifelessly she stood, her hand slipping from the gentle hold. "...it's funny...but...I always knew he would leave me...I just...didn't know how..." She left the two on their knees but chose not to go home. Instead, she made her way to her closest friend, despite differences they may have had at one point or another.

Walking down the road, her slow stride dragging as apposed to her normally cheery steps; she made her way to a flower shop and knocked three times on the door.

A while later and the door opened. "Hello dear, are you looking for Ino?" Sakura gave a slow, weak nod. The woman, Ino's mother, immediately took note that something was wrong. "You will find her at training ground ten."

Sakura gave a small thank you and left to the training grounds number ten. It was there she found Ino throwing punches at Shikamaru and Chouji leaning up against a tree watching. Ino, despite failing the exam, still went about her training with Shikamaru, and Sakura would have continued too had Sasuke stayed. Fresh tears began to fall again and Ino jumped at the sudden sound of soft crying. She turned and stared; it wasn't everyday she saw Sakura cry the way she was. Watching for a moment longer, she ran up to Sakura; her hands hovered in the air for a moment before she finally rested them on her shoulders.

"...Sakura?"

Sakura's shoulders shook and she gave into her anguish. Falling into her blonde friends embrace, she let herself cry as the two sunk to the ground.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" She was worried, scared, and frantic! Why was Sakura like this, she wondered, what happened? Who hurt her? WHY! "Sakura, please stop crying, tell me what happened! Tell me!" Tears began forming in her own eyes and she shook Sakura, "Please..."

"S-Sasuke..."

'_Sasuke? Sasuke what?'_ She thought, "What did he do? Did he hurt you? Did he say something to you? What is it? I can't help you if you don't tell me!"

"..." She stopped crying. For a moment, Sakura just kept her head against Ino's heart, listening to the fear, the concern. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to worry you. Sasuke...it's no big deal. He just...left..."

Ino's eyes widened, Shikamaru and Chouji stared shocked; her words mystified them.

"Yeah...he's gone, last night. I...I tried talking him out of it, and he...knocked me out, and laid me out on the bench. I woke up to Izumo and Kotetsu this morning...they're telling Tsunade-Shishou..."

Ino felt Sakura quiver in turmoil as she tried hard not to cry anymore. "...don't Sakura..." She said softly, "You can cry...let it out if it hurts." Ino held her friend close, Shikamaru and Chouji sat on either side of the girls, not touching them, just watching over them. Ino rocked the pinkette in slow motions, rubbing soothing circles on her back before Sakura finally drifted into a pain filled sleep.

_**-x-x-x-**_

_**Me: I hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter. Please read and review! Sankyu! ^_^''**_


	2. Tomorrow & Vague

**As the Pain Will Resurface**

_Again_

_and_

_Again_

_I Will Return _

_Again_

_and_

_Again_

_Save Me_

**-x-x-x-**

Summary: It began when he left...they noticed me...I took comfort in their words, their support, their...humor. It seemed that that was all I had. Naruto had gone in search of him...Kakashi was with me, but rarely. I was still the student of the Great Slug Sanin Tsunade, but...they helped me in more ways than anyone else could ever imagine. Till my last breath...in the end...I could only leave a little piece of me behind...I hope that's enough.

Anime: Naruto

Pairing: Kotetsu/Sakura/Izumo

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Rated: M

_**-x-x-x-**_

_**Tomorrow**_

_**-x-x-x-**_

Sitting in her room, Sakura stared out the window. She had thoughts of the night before flooding her mind, and even after it had happened, she could feel the pull of her heart causing her pain...

"_Why should I have to tell you anything?"_

Those words were haunting, whispered back to her like a broken record for a collage of phrases that tore at her heart.

"_Just keep your nose out of my business; it's none of your concern."_

She wondered, why people say things that are so hurtful to others, but when she thought about it, maybe she'd deserved it. Naruto had found out earlier, and he had sworn to bring him back, but it was proven futile in her mind. She knew, he would never return, not until Itachi was killed, and even then, he was a missing nin..._"Can't I just forget..."_ She whispered aloud to herself. She knew it wouldn't be that easy, having seen the boy she'd been crushing on, board lining love...well, at least she thought so...walk away from her only yesterday, she knew she wouldn't forget that night for a long time, if ever.

"_I'm not the same as you are."_

He had no idea how right he was. She couldn't say whether or not she'd abandon her village, even though she'd asked him to take her with him...truthfully, she had a hard time picturing herself walking through those gates for what would be the last time. No, she was the village 'goody-goody' abandoning her village was no where close to being at the top of her to-do list.

"_I'm traveling a path the rest of you can't follow."_

'_I wish I could have stopped you from following that path...or at least have been brave enough, strong enough, to travel it with you...that you might have offered...or even accepted my request to take me with you...no...once more, I wouldn't have been able to leave this village...not as I am...or as I'll ever be.'_ Sakura hid her face in her arms which lay crossed over the tops of her knees. _"Why am I so weak~"_ She cried softly.

The image of his cold eyes staring straight at her as he spoke bore into her mind.

"_I know that the four of us have worked together...and for a while I thought that I could take that road instead...but in the end...I've decided on revenge."_

'_But why...why revenge...why now? Why couldn't you have just followed us, walked with us, traveled down that road that Kakashi had helped us along! Oh, Sasuke, why couldn't you just let go of the past?'_

_**~Knock~Knock~Knock~**_

"_**Sakura?"**_ Her mother's voice could be heard on the other side of the door, _**"Dinner is ready dear,"**_

Sakura glanced up and opened her window before jumping out and into the night.

"_That's always been my reason for living."_

She felt the sting of her tears, the aching of her heart and the pain of the loss of her friend and teammate as it started to really impact her mentally. _'Was it too much to ask that Naruto, Kakashi and I be your reason for living? Was it too much to ask that you gave us a chance to give you a reason to live?'_

Stopping at the gates of Konoha, standing on the road out of her village, she stared...

"_I'll never be like you and Naruto."_

"...No..." She felt the chill of the night caress her tearstained cheeks. Not aware of the eyes watching her from a distance, cloaked in the shadows of a nearby tree. "No Sasuke...you could have very well been like Naruto and I..." Bringing her hands up to her arms, she held herself in a weak embrace. "I wonder..."

"_This is a new beginning...each of us have a new path lying before us."_

"What path lies before me...where my road will take me..."

"_Sakura...thank you for everything."_

"Even now..." She cried, "Even now you are tearing me down! YOU AREN'T EVEN HERE, AND YOU ARE TEARING ME APART SAUSKE!" She yelled out, falling to her knees as she brought her fist down painfully hard on the hard stone road. _"It's not fair~"_ She whispered into the nights air. Standing, she turned away from the entrance and left, making her way back home...

_**So painfully oblivious to the eyes that followed me, I faded into the night with no knowledge of the curious orbs watching me, studying my every movement and taking it all down for another day.**_

_**So lost was, wondering exactly, what it was...tomorrow would bring.**_

_**It's a curious thing, the heart...when one moment you are crying out your heart in anguish, and the next your screaming out your hatred for having been forced to feel that anguish...before finally mellowing down and letting yourself fall into a deep depression as reality slips from your grasp...**_

_**Yes, the heart is indeed...a curious...thing.**_

_**I would never had thought it possible, looking back on the way I had acted, had started to stop caring...for my friends...my village...myself, that I could by any means be saved from this darkness that had shadowed, not only my heart...but my very means of survival.**_

_**-x-x-x-**_

_**Vague**_

_**-x-x-x-**_

"Sakura?"

Sakura looked up from where she sat on her bed strapping her sandals. "What is it mom?" Her eyes showed little emotion, her voice, even less.

"...nothing, just wanted to make sure that you were up...will you be home for dinner tonight?"

"No,"

Her mother frowned, "Then how about breakfast, are you hungry?"

"I'm not," She grabbed her forehead protector and tied it on.

"Not even a little?"

She didn't even answer, walking past her mother, she made her way down stairs and out the door. She ran to the training field ground seven, and stayed there for a good few hours before noticing someone standing behind her, leaning against the tree quietly. "Kakashi-Sensei..."

"..." Kakashi sighed, pulling out his Ichi Ichi Paradise book, he opened it, but she could tell he wasn't reading it. "Tsunade wanted me to come and check on you, said something about you being weak hearted and may try something stupid." He didn't budge when a kunai flew and stuck in the tree he leaned against, the blade right next to his neck.

"I'm fine,"

"Yeah, you sound it." He looked over the top of his book and at his female student, her bangs overshadowing her eyes. "That's why you aren't eating, and why you were screaming at the gates of Konoha last night. As well, you have been crying a lot, your eyes are puffy and red, not at all attractive."

"WHAT'S IT MATTER!" She yelled, looking up at her Sensei as tears started flowing again. "I had stopped crying finally, why would you do this..._why..._"

"I've been repeating that one question to myself a lot lately...why...why did Sasuke leave? Why couldn't he stay? Why couldn't he depend on me? Why couldn't he depend on you, and Naruto, and his village? Why did he betray us? Why...such a simple word, yet so much confusion can be drawn around it." He put his book up and pushed himself off the tree and walked forward, towards hi heartrending student. "Here is another," He said, taking her hand in his as he crouched down to her eye level. "Why are you letting him tear you apart, when he's not even here?"

His question hurt, she knew it was true, she'd said as much the previous night while yelling at absolutely no one. _'I don't know...'_

"Why are you still crying, when he's already gone?"

'_I don't know...'_ She felt him place a hand under her chin and lift her head so that he could look into her eyes better.

"Why are you acting like a weak little girl, instead of the strong Kunoichi that I know you are?"

"_I don't know..."_ It was a soft whisper, but she finally answered aloud.

"Sakura..."

She looked him in the eyes.

"Why are you still crying?"

"...because it hurts..."

He smiled; she could just barely see the outlines of his lips beneath his mask. "Then stop trying to hide your tears, cry...cry until you can't cry anymore, and when you are finally done, we'll still be here. Naruto, Tsunade, Hinata...Ino, Shikamaru, Kiba...Chouji, Shino, Tenten...Lee, Neji, Gaara...Temari and Kankuro...everyone is here for you, your parents...everyone. You just have to let them in."

She moved forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders before crying, her tears soaking into his vest, but he didn't care. This girl was like a daughter to him, he could sit through a few tears.

This continued on for a while before she pulled away and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "Sensei..."

"Hm?"

"You forgot someone..."

"Oh? Who's that?"

Sakura smiled, "I have you, Sensei. I know, you will always be there for me and Naruto."

Kakashi watched her as she made her way elsewhere, wondering if what she said was true, and if he would truly be able to be there for his remaining two students.

Sakura wasn't yet ready to return home, so instead, made her way to the gates of Konoha, once again. Actually, she'd been told earlier by Naruto that they would be departing to bring back Sasuke. Apparently, Shikamaru would be leading, Neji, Chouji, Kiba and Naruto. Actually, from what she'd heard, they had originally wanted to take Shino too, but he was off on another mission, and Lee...he was still healing after his fight with Gaara. Sakura climbed atop the gates and sat down, there was supposed to be guards posted at the gates at all time, but none were present. Or at least, that's what she thought.

"Sakura-San?"

Sakura looked to her left, the man standing next to her had been one of the ones who had find her sleeping outside after Sasuke had knocked her out. _'What was his name...Kotetsu...yeah, that's it. Wonder where his partner is.'_

"Are you feeling any better?" He sat down next to her, not too close, just where he normally sat when guarding the gates.

"I guess...a little..." She could see the guys heading towards the gate, preparing to leave for Sasuke. Naruto glanced up at her and she smiled sadly. "I can't bring myself to ask him to bring Sasuke back."

Kotetsu looked generally taken aback by that, "Why not?"

She looked at the man next to her, "Because, they won't succeed. I don't want to place the burden of not bringing him back, on Naruto's shoulders. Sasuke isn't coming back, until Itachi is dead..._and even then_..."

He watched her curiously, but said nothing. The group of boys left and Sakura stayed, and she silently waited. In the end, night had fallen, Izumo had arrived, and Kotetsu had ended up carrying the girl back. He knew she would want to be there for when the boys get back, but she needed to sleep where she wouldn't take the chance of catching a cold.

Sneaking inside the girls' room silently was easy; he tucked her in and turned to leave when a hand caught his vest. Turning back, he noticed her eyes barely open. She was exhausted, her energy depleted, her Chakra low, all because of Sasuke.

"_Please, when they return...tell me..."_

He gave a small nod and she released his vest before sleep finally took her.

"_What's one more person to inform...?"_ He whispered quietly, thinking of how when the group arrived, he'd first have to inform Tsunade. Still, he stared at her and couldn't help but do as requested. Just this once...

**-x-x-x-**

**Me: Oh my god! I'M UPDATING! Call the press, call the white house, CALL PIZZA HUT! Actually Pizza sounds good, but I'm having steak tonight! Texas Steak Roadhouse! WOO! WOO! *shuffle*shuffle* WOO! WOO! *shuffle*shuffle***

**Envy: ...I'm going to continue while she dances in─**

**Jakotsu: LET ME DO IT!**

**Envy: -.-...whatever.**

**Jakotsu: Please Read and Review!**

**Envy: ...satisfied?**

**Jakotsu: Very much so.**

**Envy: ...**

**Jakotsu: ...**

**Envy: So...why do you think she never uses characters from the stories she's writing?**

**Jakotsu: Because she liked us better?**

**Envy: Does she use you in the Inuyasha fics when she's writing her A/N's at the bottom?**

**Jakotsu: 0.0...no...then why doesn't she use characters from the stories she's writing?**

**Me: Hehehehehe...the world may never know~**


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